Ted Cruz or Beto O'Rourke? Likability isn't superficial

Beto O’Rourke’s nickname “Beto” is Hispanic and he is not. But that’s not the issue. The real issue is the widespread mispronunciation of “Beto.”
Rachel Denny Clow, Corpus Christi Caller-Times

Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, left, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, of El Paso, shake hands after their first debate for the Texas U.S. Senate on Sept. 21 in Dallas.(Photo: Nathan Hunsinger/The Dallas Morning News)

U.S. senators are among the world's power elite. There are only 100 of them. And Texans who vote — we hope that's you — are in the midst of choosing one.

Senators serve six-year terms and, as a group, have veto power over presidential appointments in addition to their power to author and approve legislation in tandem with the House.

This is one of the nation's most-watched races, in no small part because U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of El Paso is believed to have a real chance to become the first Democrat to defeat a Republican in a statewide election in 28 years. That Republican is incumbent Ted Cruz, who in his first term gained national attention for shutting the government down briefly and for being the last Republican standing against Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential primary.

What are the candidates' differences?

On paper, voters have clear, easy choices to make if the agenda of the candidate's political party is all that matters to them. Cruz is for building Trump's border wall and O'Rourke, from the perspective of someone who has lived most of his life in a border city, is vehemently opposed. O'Rourke, a strong advocate for comprehensive immigration reform, is for and Cruz is against permanent resident status for the undocumented immigrants known as DREAMers who were brought here as children. They also differ fundamentally on health care — O'Rourke wants it to be universal; Cruz is a party-line opponent of the Affordable Care Act and anything that would go farther. And Cruz considers the Trump tax cut a huge victory and O'Rourke a travesty because it benefits the rich at the expense not only of the working-class and poor but also because it digs the country deeper into debt.

Normally, these clear differences would be enough for voters to choose who's best for them based on where they stand on these key issues.

Why is likability important?

But there is one, even simpler way to decide between these two. Normally, we'd oppose turning a key political race into a so-called popularity contest. But this is a rare case in which the unpopularity of one candidate, Cruz, is a substantive issue.

Even Cruz's own party doesn't like him. When Sen. Lindsay Graham, a fellow Republican, said that if Cruz were killed in the Senate and the trial were in the Senate, no one would be convicted, it wasn't just amusing. It was a serious signal that they don't want this guy around.

The bad blood started from the get-go when Cruz arrived and was disrespectful and dismissive of Texas' senior Sen. John Cornyn, who is respected and liked by colleagues.

That kind of mistake isn't in O'Rourke's DNA. He is one of the more personally likable candidates at any level in any state in recent memory. People like working with people they like. In the Senate, this translates to O'Rourke having vastly more potential than Cruz to take care of Texas.

Republican voters who plan to hold their noses and vote for Cruz really need to take a whiff first.

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U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, who is running for U.S. Senate, speaks to supporters outside a campaign rally at the VFW Post in Sinton, Texas on Friday, Oct. 19, 2018. (Photo: Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times)

Which candidate shows up?

O'Rourke's visits to all 254 counties could be written off as a campaign stunt. But it shouldn't. He didn't just parachute in. He had conversations, and those take time. Cruz, meanwhile, earned a reputation for not paying attention to his state while he worked on his national profile with stunts like the government shutdown. Then he spent much of 2015 and most of 2016 running for president.

In all candor, choosing O'Rourke is easier for us than for Republican voters because we agree with his policy stances and they don't. There has been talk of Republican voters who don't like Cruz and can't bring themselves to vote for a Democrat leaving that section of the ballot blank. We'd rather they vote. The more total votes, the better, no matter who wins. Give the winner a meaningful mandate.

CLOSE

Beto O'Rourke made a stop between Sinton and Odem on Friday. Here's why he went.
Alexandria Rodriguez, Corpus Christi Caller-Times